Unlock
by VesperChan
Summary: Sometimes we, as humans, keep our hearts and our secrets locked away from everyone else, so that only those we trust enough to give out our keys to can really see all of us. But sometimes trust is hard to come by. AU


The Uchiha empire was in all respects, a country unto its self. Danzo Uchiha started it all when he was a child, amassing for himself a fortune in underground net workings that dealt with firearm transaction, both legal and non. From then on he and his brother Teyaki Uchiha went on to buy up property in up in coming areas, turning slums into vacation spots in a matter of months. By the time the had both married, a small section of Tokyo belonged to them, whether the Prime minister wanted to admit it or not.

But Danzo was not satisfied with this. He wanted more and he was hell bent on getting that. He paired his skills as an electronics engineer with his advanced knowledge of modern firearms and before long was developing some of the world's most advanced weapons. His company is a tech company that develops and manufactures advanced weapon and defense technologies. By the time he was thirty, he was the CEO of Paper Fan, arming anyone that could pay with the goods it required to come out on top-no matter who that client may be. That's what put the Uchiha name on the world's top five richest industries.

Soon he had a son from one of his wives who was named Fugaku Uchiha. Fugaku was only acknowledged as a true son due to his superior knowledge in the engineering field. His speciality mostly rested in aviation and from his mind, came some of the most advanced fighter jets to take to the skies. This branch of the Uchiha empire came to be known as Firefly.

Danzo had man sons and daughters, but only a few were acknowledged as his own. By the time he was sixty, he was still (somehow) having kids who were advancing is empire past Japan and America. If you weren't better than the perfect kid with the expected brains of a geniuses you and your whore of a mother were not allowed into the higher circle of the family. This put a lot of stress on the kids from the actual mothers. A lot of pain and grief came from this.

One branch that stood out was the pharmaceutical based Lantern, run by the most advanced of all of Danzo's sons. Rivaled only by his nephew, Madara Uchiha seemed to be sometimes inhuman to those who struggled in his field. What they could not begin to comprehend, he figured out in the bat of an eye. From him devision many cures to hundreds of diseases were developed. If you had a sickness or an illness you couldn't cure, 7 out of 10 times it could be cured in Lantern. Granted, not everyone was healed by this miracle man working his medicines, but the number of people who were saved was much greater than it would have been, if they had relied on their own healthcare.

The Uchihas were ruling the world, and with his father limping around on his last leg of life, it looked like Madara had the earth spinning in his hands.

He didn't.

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Izuna watched his brother with mild intrust as the older of the two paced back and forth in front of an apartment complex that looked like it had seen better days. Izuna's stopwatch was going and so far it was at seven minutes and fifteen seconds. This wasn't anywhere close to Madara's long standing record, but it was still pretty long.

Just then the front door opened and out walk an annoyed looking collage student, wrapped up in a faded blue ski jacket and white scarf. Her hands were shoved deep into her pockets and she didn't look like she was going to bring them out to hug her guest anytime soon.

"Sakura chaaaan," the twenty six year old whined, mustering every fiber of self-restraint to keep from pouncing on the deliciously beautifle woman.

"How many times have I told you I don't like it when you come to my apartment?"

"Please, just for a little bit, love?"

"I should just leave you out here to catch hypothermia and die but I've taken and oath and can't really do that, no matter how amusing it might be to watch frostbite work on a human body."

"Does that mean I can come in?"

"Is there anything I can say that will stop you or make you go home?"

"Of course not."

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned on her heels, sharply, to walk back towards the elevator at the end of the lobby. "Then you had better come on it before you get too cold. I would have hell to pay in the morning if you keeled over and died on my account."

With her eyes facing forward, Sakura missed Madara behind her back, sending a flurry of fast typed messages to his younger brother. It was mandatory and should be done with care, but he wanted to spend as little time on anything other than Sakura as possible.

**To Izuna: Make sure you keep Itachi and his baster duck brother away from Sakura while I'm with her. I don't want them showing up and ruining the mood like last time! **Click

"Madara?" Sakura asked, looking over her shoulder at the taller male who kept himself just on the edge of her personal bubble, if not in it, at all times.

"Yes my darling Sakura chan?" he cooed, grinning like the love stuck fool he was.

"I asked you if you ate already? And before you even think that, no, I am _not_ cooking for you. I'm way to busy with more important stuff to spend hours slaving over a hot stove. Midterms are coming up soon and Shizune has offered to let me shadow her Monday."

The elevator came down and the two stepped in. Once the doors closed, Sakura could feel strong arms drape themselves over her body as a face nuzzled into her neck. "I haven't had dinner yet, so how about I treat us to some take out? We can get your favorite."

Sakura blushed as she felt the purr from his throat vibrate against her skin. "Stop acting so clingy," she sighed, turning her face away.

"Was that a yes to Chinese?"

"_And_ the only reason I didn't throw you against a wall."

"I love you too, Sakura chan," he giggled, kissing the shell of her ear right before the doors opened.

She jabbed him in the side with her elbow and that seemed to work well enough for getting him off. But Madara was an Uchiha and with that name came a certain level of pride. He wasn't one to retreat so easily nor give up. So after being shoved off, he skipped out of the elevator and followed her closely till she came to her apartment door. He waited till she had it unlocked and opened it before he pounced on her again. Stuck in the narrow doorway, she had little to no room to throw him off.

"Madara," she warned in a serious tone, looking over her shoulder to glare at the man who held her left arm and shoulders captive against his chest.

"Mmm, have I ever told you how erotic you sound when you say my name in that warning tone of yours, love? Ah, it just makes me want to-"

She slammed his face up against the wall, not caring that she was still squished in the narrow hallway/doorway/whatever you wanna call it. "That's enough of that, now. It's way too late in the day to be hearing your perverted ramblings, ero baka."

Madara managed to slip out from under her palm and whimpered, watching the smaller body move away from him into the kitchen area that was really nothing more than a counter and a Fridge with a mini microwave. "But Sakura chan, it's only seven twenty. How long do I have to wait till I can whisper my sweet nothings to you?"

"Ten million years sounds about right," she answered with a calm tone as she reached into her fridge for a bottle of cherry red Gatorade.

"But I don't want to wait that long, I wanna marry you now!"

She bopped him over the head with her bottle before opening it for herself with a sarcastic snicker. "Didn't I tell you I'm not going in that direction with my life right now? And I thought you knew everything about me."

He whimpered under her careless words, pouting as she turned her back on him. "I do know everything about you, even more so that you do. That's why I know you're really in love with me even though you don't know it, so you should hurry up and just marry me before one of my stupid relatives tries to steal you away."

"Speaking of Itachi, is in back in Japan yet?"

"I didn't say anything about Itachi!"

She chuckled, amused with his reaction. She really loved to tease him. "I know I know. I'm going to place the order real quick, make yourself at home, will 'ya?"

He ran a hand though his long inky black hair, brushing away a few wild strands that stuck out and away from the rest. That's when he noticed the bags from her shopping trip earlier today. Of course he knew about that, he knew where she went, when she went and how she got there. That's why he was so eager to go through her newly purchased items. It had to be here with everything else, since she just go back from shopping with that annoying blond that was too clingy for her own good. _Bimbo_.

"What are you looking for?" Sakura asked, coming up behind him, cordless phone in hand.

"It's not here."

"What's not here?"

"Where is the Victoria's Secret bag you got from shopping today? It's not here with the rest."

Her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened. "H-how do you know about that?"

He ignored her and looked for himself, only to not find a hint of it. The his face lit up in a smile as he came to the obvious answer. "Oh, I get it now. You must be wearing them. Let me see, I wanna see."

"Pervert!"

Her punches really were something to avoid, but even more than that, you wanted to stay away from her kicks, cause it was like getting hit by a Italian Stallion (not the Rocky kind). It was a miracle he didn't break any ribs after getting throw halfway across the room into her older cat clawed couch. The even bigger miracle was that he actually came back for more, time and time again.

"Ahh, I know you like it rough Sakura, but you have to be gentle with me, else I might just get hurt."

"I hope you do, I really do. Now would you kindly shut up, I want to study. Brain surgery isn't something you learn overnight. I'll be in my room, call me when the food gets here."

Madara jumped to his feet and ran to her side, latching onto her arm like a leach, annoying her off to no end. "Wait, I came all the way over here to see you and I want to play. I don't want to just sit here and watch you, thought that wouldn't be too bad. Please play with me."

"I don't want to play your games, knowing you, they have something to do with handcuffs and whipped cream."

He gasped, jumping back in mock shock. "How did you know?"

He was playing with her again, and so this time she though it appropriate to play back. "Probably because Itachi played it with me before he left for America."

The look on Madara's face resembled something of a cross between a lover catching his woman in the arms of another man and a witness to a prolific killing spree, curtsey of pyramid head. Yes, it was just that funny. But as quickly as it came it left, replaced with the reassuring knowledge that his love intrust was only playing with him, and could not have done such a thing without him knowing. That was bad for Sakura since he was now annoyed and wanted to take it out on her in his favorite way.

"Sakura," he breathed, his voice rumbling a deep tenor before the said female found herself pinned to the wall with both wrists in his hands. "Don't tease me like that, love." He reached forward and took a stay lock of hair between his teeth only to let it go so he could lick the exposed area of her face. "'Cause I might just... snap."

He kissed her hungrily and she could do nothing to refuse him when he was like this. He wold never force himself on her, not in a million years, but he knew that slowly he was wearing away his defenses like a wave ebbed away at a sharp stone. The drunken moans she made against her will proved that well enough. A month ago she would have pushed him away by now, and a year ago she wouldn't have let him even touch her lips. Yes, he was making progress.

His hands were just about to move away from her head to someplace lower when the loud blaring doorbell and pounding on the front door disrupted the two. Sakura pulled away, flushed and embarrassed.

"I-I should go get that," she stuttered running for the front door.

"Wh-Sakura that's not the Chinese food, don't open that doo-"

"Itachi, Shisui!"

"Hey there Sakura," the older one playfully greeted, drawing her into a bear hug. She laughed and hugged Shisui back.

"You guys are back from America! Come on in, we just ordered Chinese."

"We?" the younger asked in a suspicious tone.

Madara made his presence know with heavier than normal footsteps, attracting the attention of the curious male. He sneered when he saw his nephew. "_Weasle_."

Scarlet met Crimson and lightning seemed to crackle between the two gazes as Itachi glared back. "_Uncle_ Madara. How good to see you well in your old age."

"Cut the bullshite, kiddo. We both know Sakura isn't falling for it."

"I wasn't aiming to deceive Sakura san in any way, you simply assumed that yourself, uncle."

Madara crossed his arms over his chest and took a steep closer to the handsome youth who though he had a sliver of a chance in attaining Sakura's heart. "Isn't there somewhere you should be? It's rare for someone like you to get time off. What, has big brother Fugaku kun run out of little duties for his special little boy? I can't safely believe that. Should I drop him a line and let him know you're here?"

Itachi's jaw twitched ever so slightly, but his poker face stayed up for the most part. "Do as you will, I am here to visit Sakura san, as I have not had the pleasure of doing so for a very long time. Excuse me."

Itachi brushed past Madara, knocking shoulders in a less than friendly way. Once he was out of earshot, Madara dove into his pocket to turn on his phone and check his messages. There were several from his brother warning him and begging for mercy. That was sort of stupid for Madara to turn his phone off like that.

Sakura was showing Shisui something out of one of her books when Itachi joined the conversation, bringing an unnecessary smile to her lips. Shisui wasn't much of a threat ever since he gave up on trying to win Sakura for himself a few months ago. But it was troublesome that he decided to help Itachi win her insteed of just backing out graciously. Never mind that was what Izuna did with his older brother, having had a bad stroke of lovesickness there for a while. There was a third team too, consisting of the duo Sasuke Tobi. Sasuke being the stupid one that though he had a chance.

Itachi looked up at his uncle and grinned, leaning further over Sakura's shoulder and taking a very obvious sniff of her hair before pulling back with a devilish look to his eyes.

Ding Dong

"Chinese is here!"

It was going to be a long night.

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Madara sat in the darkness, picking through Sakura's things with what little light he was provided with from the kitchen night light. He wasn't tired, and couldn't make a move on his slumbering angel since Shisui, the damn bastard, was spending the night in place of Itachi who had to be hauled away by his father's men to do more work on the dragon-scale armor he was trying to sell to the US government.

'Serves that teme right,' he thought.

Something rough and wooden fell under his fingertips and he pulled it out to get a better look at it. It was a small square box with what looked like Victorian styled lock that held the lid down and prevented him from seeing what was kept inside. He shook it lightly and heard something move around, against padding. There was something in there! He lifted it up to see it's underside and saw 'Sai's custom designs' etched into the coppery brass color. Sai, wasn't he her old high school friend? This box looked too expensive to hold something of trifle value to his precious darling, so he decided to try and open it to see what was inside.

One problem...he didn't have the key and it was locked.

He searched around for the key in the place he had found the box but turned up with nothing. He tiptoed to the bookshelves and started pulled some out, looking for the fake ones she kept to hid her things in. He could tell which ones they were from the photos that stood out. A dictionary that wasn't alphabetized turned up her car keys and an emergency credit card, but other than that, nothing of real value.

He found a snapshot of him and her in between the pages of another and smiled.... untill he saw the one of her and Itachi. Making sure no one was looking, he crumpled it and stuck it in his pockets, replacing it with a photo of himself that he always kept on him.

No key fit the lock on this box and he was starting to get worried. What if this had something to do with a secret lover he didn't know about yet? What if it was another stalker sending her gifts through the college? What if she liked the guy? That wouldn't do at all, he wouldn't allow it. An Uchiha was going to marry here and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Itachi or Sasuke. **He** was the only one that could really make her happy, and she deserved all the happiness in the world. What with that hell of a life she had to live through before he stepped in.

Thats right. Her life was quite the hell before he had enough power to move out on his own and protect her from the stepfather and mother who raised her. Her own father was quite the fellow, charming and caring and gentle with the little things just like Sakura was. But he was killed when a burglar tried robbing their house in the middle of the night. Her mother never recovered from her grief and remarried the first guy who would take her. Not a smart move.

Sakura was seven when she got her new dad, and was smart enough to know she needed to stay away from that guy. She was always smart for a girl her age, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to know what it's not safe for you. He drank, gambled, and drugged his life away till he ended up dying from an overdosage along with his un loving wife. By that time Sakura was seventeen. To this day she still has scars on the back of her neck, hidden by her hair line, from when he smashed a beer bottle against her skull. Madara was sure she had more somewhere else, but she didn't like showing them off.

The hall lick flickered on, going out once or twice before staying lit. "Mmm, Mandy kun? What are you doing up?" a very tired Sakura yawned, leaning against the wall with her bed hair and sexy hello kitty pjs. (A tank and boyshorts.) How could he possible resist?

"My Sakura chan," he breathed, pressing her head to his chest as he kissed the top of her crown. "Just the lovely angel I wanted to see. Why are you up? It's only..." he looked to the kitchen clock. "Four thirty."

"I have to be up soon anyways, and heard you going through my books again. What are you looking for?"

"A key to this," he answered, holding up her box.

Seeing what was in his hands she snapped away and fixed her eyes into a glare. She took the box away from Madara and held it against her chest in a protective manner. "You don't need to see what's inside here. I does not concern you."

"Anything to do with Sakura chan has to do with me. I plan on marrying you one day."

"Nothing goes according to plan in life, get used to it," she grumbled back, retreating into her room where she stepped over a still slumbering Shisui to get to her nightstand. She opened the drawer, dropped the box inside, and sealed it with another key that she proceeded to hang around her neck. "I know that won't really keep you out of my things, but I trust you have enough respect for me to hold back on the few things I can manage to keep from you. I'm going to get changed and shower, I'll go in early today."

"No need, I can drive you."

"I don't want that," she called back, and Madara knew that she meant it. Sometimes he hated the power she had over him.

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He asked her about the box again the next day, and the day after than, and the day after that one too. He tried everything he could think of to get her to let him in that mysterious little box of hers. Bribes were sometimes tempting, but for the most part she just took them as insults.

_'I could afford a new computer if I wanted one, I'm just happy with the one I have!'_

Threats weren't even touched on. They both knew he could never bring himself to threaten her with words, much less carry out whatever it was that could harm her. He loved her too much for that and he was desperate to convey that feeling to her.

He tried ignoring her, but that only seemed to amuse her, and that in turn ticked him off. He tried forgetting about the box, but it always seemed to turn up somewhere in his mind, haunting him wherever he went. He went to her friends and asked about it, but none of them knew anything, not even the blond bimbo.

He really shouldn't be getting so worked up over something like this, but it was like the whole forbidden fruit syndrome. The one thing you weren't allowed to have was the thing you wanted the most. This was the only thing of Sakura's she wouldn't let him know about, and it irked him to no degree. Everything else about her life, from the moment she was born to what band she was in during high school to the last guy who tried asking her out, was known to him. Something about his love that he didn't know about was just absurd.

It had been a whole month now and tonight was a special charity ball his branch was holding to raise money for some good cause he really wasn't concerned about. Lantern was pretty big on that and he was too, most of the time, but tonight he seemed out of it for some reason.

Sakura was just getting out of the shower now, and he could hear the blow drier going from her bathroom. He offered to take a shower with her, but she just smacked him across the face before disappearing into her room. The though of Sakura dripping wet behind fogged glass wearing nothing but her birthday suite was a great remedy to the pressing problems concerning her stupid little box.

He let out a drunken sigh and slumped against the doorpost. He was letting her make him delirious again. He was, after all, a creative man.

The blow dryer turned off in a few minuets she stepped out in a towel to grab her dress and head back into the bathroom to change. Madara was at the door in an instant, trying to open it and 'help' his fated other with zipping up the back.

"I can get it just fine by myself, thank you."

"But Sakura chan, it might get stuck of jammed and what about your hair. Come one, let me help."

"I'm already in my dress, Madara, I'm doing my makeup now."

The older male leaned against the closed door and sighed heavily. "You don't need that stuff. Can't you skip it and let me in. I've been waiting forever."

"Well excuse me if being a woman is too much trouble. I'd like to see you struggle though period cramps for two hours or even bleed for a whole week and not die. And don't even get me started on these freaking cravings. Try keeping a figure like this with all that chocolate in your freezer from White Day."

"I didn't give you too much, did I? I though I got the good stuff with higher coco levels."

He could hear her chuckle on the other side of the door and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. She was about to tell him something he wouldn't like, he just knew it! "Madara, you weren't the only guy who gave me chocolates on White Day."

"What? Who else was there? I made sure no one at the school had the opp-crap. Sakura chan I'm sorry I didn't mean it that way."

The door opened and Sakura stood there in all her elegance with a smug, knowing smile. Her black strapless dress hug snugly over her upper body before flaring out at the hips in a mass of black lace. Her hair was puffed up at the top and the rest was pulled into a bow like bun with fresh water pears dripping from the clips that held it in place. She smirked at the dumbstruck expression she was greeted with.

"Don't worry, I don't mind about that so much. I wasn't interested in any of those guys anyway. The only ones who got past your net were your relatives, not that it really matters now. How do I look? This is the dress you picked out for me after all."

She spun around for him and he felt more than just his face grow hot. Maybe he shouldn't have picked out one that would be so short on his beloved. Damn, he could see her thighs when she turned real fast like that! "You look ravishing, love. But I think you would look better without it to hinder my-ow!"

"Can you not go one day without me having to slap you for your perverted speech?"

"You could choose to not be so annoyed by it, love."

She looked down at him with half lidded eyes before giving up with a heavy sigh. "You're lucky you're good looking, or else I would have thrown you out on your butt ages ago."

Madara perked up, watching he retreat to her vanity where she stuck in her earrings and slipped on her bracelets. He came up behind her and draped his arms over her shoulders to cross in front of her chest. "So you think I'm hott?"

"Sure, I'm not going to lie and say you're not," she answered, looking over several different rings she had to choose from. There were too many nagging bitches at these parties who would jump you for anything you didn't have, so she decided to come prepared.

"So you're saying you would like a piece of me in the dark?"

She gave him annoyed look and reached for something in her jewelry box. An antique key. "Who would do anything with you in the dark?"

Madara's eyes widened when she picked up thatdamedevilboxofmanysecrets and unlocked it with her key. She pulled out a white chain with a Uchiha fan on the end that dangled elegantly. She slipped it around her neck with the pearls and let it rest against her chest before she turned around to face Madara. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss before moving her lips to his ear.

"I prefer leaving the lights on, otherwise it's not as fun."

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First place prize to StormDragon666 who requested this little piece of MadaSaku goodness. I hope you like it Storm!

Now that this is done, I'm going off to work on a GaaSaku oneshot for -delicate desires.

Vesper chan


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